Residents Balk At Drainage Easements

PRAIRIE GROVE — Some Prairie Grove residents have indicated they do not want to give a drainage easement for a major city project that would alleviate flooding along Viney Grove Road, according to Larry Oelrich, director of public works.

“These easements are critical to this project, and this project is critical to the health and safety of the residents on Viney Grove Road,” Oelrich wrote in an email Friday.

The Prairie Grove City Council accepted a low bid of $599,000 from J. Johnson Construction of Rogers on Aug. 20 for the Viney Grove drainage project. Oelrich said the project involves reshaping the ditch that travels for onehalf mile from the Muddy Fork of the Illinois River, across the sewer plant property to Viney Grove Road and replacing the pipes under the road.

“It increases the amount of water flow by 500 percent,” Oelrich said.

The city needs easements from 20 tracts for the project and already has received commitments from 13 property owners.

Five property owners, however, have indicated they might not sign an easement and of these, four are located in the Battlefield subdivision that runs along the south side of the ditch.

Oelrich said most of the easements needed are for existing ditches that are filled with trees, brush and other debris. The project calls for cleaning out these ditches and shaping the area into a new drainage swale that will carry far more water than the “existing jungle,” Oelrich said.

The residents in the Battlefield subdivision who have not signed easements are not directly affected by the flooding and they have said they want to keep the “jungle” in their back yards, Oelrich wrote in the email. “They've all said the flooding doesn't bother us,” he added Friday.

The easements needed from these property owners are a very minimal part of their property, from .03 to .01 acre, Oelrich said, noting that the construction would be confined to the ditch area and would not disturb their yards.

Another property owner who has not signed to give an easement is affected by flooding on the east side of Viney Grove Road.

“Quite frankly, it baffles me why they are not jumping at this,” Oelrich said.

The city has notified the construction company that the city council approved its bid but will need to give a “notice to proceed” within the two-three weeks or risk losing the bid. Oelrich said the bid was about $100,000 under the engineer's estimate.

“The bid was an extremely good bid,” Oelrich said. “We don't want to lose it.”

Oelrich said he will continue to call the property owners to request easements but if they do not sign, he would have to go back to the engineer to see if the ditch can be relocated. He said it's possible that the ditch could be moved in a few areas but added, “Two of these (easements) are critical.”

The city has been working on the Viney Grove Road project for more than a year. Residents along the road approached the city council at its June 20, 2011, meeting asking for help. The city is paying for the project through a bond issue approved by voters last September.